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How the Philippines Changed Its OOXML Vote from No to Yes - Updated: ISO Press Release

By Pamela Jones et al.

The Manila Bulletin Online tells us how the Philippines changed its No vote on OOXML to Yes. Once again there is an indication that when no consensus was reached, the chairman decided to make it Yes. That blatantly happened in Norway, and I can't help but want more details about the Philippines.

Take a look and see what you think:

The nine members of the technical committee tasked to evaluate the country's position came up with a razor-thin 5-4 decision in favor of the Microsoft-backed document format, said Reyes in a phone interview.

The voting process was as tight as it can get, with most representatives from the government sector electing to reject the document format. However, the chair of the committee, Philip Barilla of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), tilted the balance of power to the "yes" side.

That sounds familiar, doesn't it? The technical people fervently say no. Isn't the rule that the decision has to be by consensus and if that isn't possible, one is supposed to vote Abstain? That is what Australia told us, and that is what I understood from the Directives.

Full post as published by Groklaw on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).